By Coach K-Mac, Hardbody Athlete
The in-season period for women’s hockey is an intense, demanding phase, stretching from mid-September through March. It’s a marathon for these athletes, with weekly Friday and Saturday games and little room for recovery. While the long season creates a stable training rhythm, it requires meticulous planning to keep players at peak performance week after week.
At Hardbody Athlete, our approach integrates principles from the Kilo Strength Society for program design and periodization, ensuring that our athletes balance on-ice performance with recovery. Here’s how to break down the season and keep players at the top of their game.
Four Quarters for In-Season Training Success
I divide the season into four quarters, each with specific objectives, using the analogy of players as cars with gas tanks. Each phase aims to increase conditioning, maintain strength, and gradually shift emphasis to support game performance.
First Quarter (Mid-September – End of October)
Conditioning: In this early phase, we ramp up volume as players adjust to 20-hour training weeks and game play. Our goal is to avoid sharp spikes in load, ensuring players acclimate safely.
Strength Training: Transitioning from pre-season, we focus on strength and power with higher volume in the weight room. This phase emphasizes building a strong foundation for the long season ahead.
Second Quarter (November – Mid-December)
Conditioning: This is the season’s peak load period. Building aerobic capacity is essential to ensure athletes can sustain performance over the coming months.
Strength Training: Complexity and velocity increase while volume decreases slightly to align with high on-ice workloads. Movement selection prioritizes areas that commonly experience strain, like the lower back, shoulders, and hips.
Holiday Break (Late December – January)
Conditioning: This is an opportunity to re-test on-ice speed and conditioning, giving us a mid-season checkpoint.
Strength Training: We balance strength work and recovery, alternating between in-season maintenance and higher-volume training while athletes are away from the rink.
Third Quarter (January – February)
Conditioning: Now that aerobic capacity is built, we focus on sustaining intensity while increasing practice efficiency—getting more mileage out of every effort.
Strength Training: This period shifts toward power and speed with moderate volume, ensuring players feel explosive without fatigue.
Fourth Quarter (February – End of March)
Conditioning: The focus shifts to a gradual weekly load taper to preserve energy for postseason play.
Strength Training: High-intensity power exercises take priority, often incorporating concentric-only or overcoming isometrics. Extra recovery and mobility work ensure athletes are primed for end-of-season games.
Weekly In-Season Structure for Ohio State Women’s Hockey (Sample)
Each week, we tailor training to prepare players for upcoming games while managing fatigue. Here’s a typical weekly breakdown:
Monday – Pre-Practice Lift: Strength & Eccentric Focus
This day focuses on strength without maxing out, often incorporating movements that emphasize accelerative strength (around 0.5-0.75 m/s). As the season progresses, we work down the force-velocity curve.
Example:
- Warm-up, mobility, and activation
- Main strength movement (unilateral or bilateral)
- Post-activation potentiation (ballistic or plyometric)
- Accessory work for core, posterior chain, and hips
- Practice: Intense, game-like conditions to set the tone for the week.
Tuesday – Individual Lifts & Speed Work
An extra lift day for individual needs. Practice focuses on top skating velocities to ensure players achieve peak speeds beyond battle drills.
Wednesday – Pre-Practice Lift: Power & Isometric Focus
This session primes athletes for game day with low-volume, high-power exercises. The goal is to potentiate without creating soreness.
Example:
- Speed-strength movement (opposite of Monday’s focus)
- Band-assisted or low eccentric demand jumps
- Horizontal push/pull and groin work (different angle than Monday)
- Accessory work for posterior shoulder stability and mobility
- Practice: Systems-focused drills with straight-line conditioning if needed.
Thursday – Travel Day & Final Practice
A short practice emphasizing tactical plays before Friday’s game.
Leveraging Technology for Objective Feedback
With tools like force plates, heart rate monitors, and sleep technology, we can objectively monitor each athlete’s recovery and performance levels. Force plates, for example, provide data on physical recovery and can help us adjust weekly plans based on fatigue.
Adaptive Planning: The “Whiteboard Mentality”
The art of in-season training lies in adaptability. No plan is rigid; weekly and daily adjustments are made based on individual and team needs. Having a “whiteboard mentality” means we’re ready to pivot, altering volume, exercises, or conditioning based on how players are responding.
With this balanced, athlete-centered approach, Hardbody Athlete collaborates with coaching staff to optimize both physical and tactical performance. Our in-season program is designed to help our athletes feel strong, fast, and ready to perform their best during the biggest games.